Daily Reflections
April 4
CRYING FOR THE MOON
“This very real feeling of inferiority is magnified by his childish sensitivity and it is this state of affairs which generates in him that insatiable, abnormal craving for self-approval and success in the eyes of the world. Still a child, he cries for the moon. And the moon, it seems, won’t have him!”
–LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 102
While drinking I seemed to vacillate between feeling totally invisible and believing I was the center of the universe. Searching for that elusive balance between the two has become a major part of my recovery. The moon I constantly cried for is, in sobriety, rarely full; it shows me instead its many other phases, and there are lessons in them all. True learning has often followed an eclipse, a time of darkness, but with each cycle of my recovery, the light grows stronger and my vision is clearer.
Twenty-Four Hours A
Day
April 4
A.A. Thought for the Day
When I came into A.A., I found men and women who had been through the same things I had been through. But now they were thinking more about how they could help others than they were about themselves. They were a lot more unselfish than I ever was. By coming to meetings and associating with them, I began to think a little less about myself and a little more about other people. I also learned that I didn’t have to depend on myself alone to get out of the mess I was in. I could get a greater strength than my own. Am I now depending less on myself and more on God?
Meditation for the Day
You cannot help others unless you understand the person you are trying to help. To understand the problems and temptations of others, you must have been through them yourself. You must do all you can to understand others. You must study their backgrounds, their likes and dislikes, their reactions and their prejudices. When you see their weaknesses, do not confront the person with them. Share your own weaknesses, sins, and temptations and let other people find their own convictions.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may serve as a channel for God’s power to come into the lives of others. I pray that I may try to understand them.
Walk in Dry Places
April 4
You are not alone
Fellowship
If you feel isolated and lonely, tape the letters – YANA – to the dash in your car. “You Are Never Alone” can help bring a surge of confidence when you most need it.
We are not alone because we have thousands of friends who have shared our experience and who understand our feelings. We also are not alone because we have a Higher Power who presides over the affairs of all humankind. We can never be separated from this Power except in our own minds.
We must remember that we will always need other people. Virtually everything that benefits us is supplied by the skills and knowledge of others. We can believe that we are completely independent, but the truth is that no person survives completely alone.
The typical problem for many of us is in failing to seek help from others. If extreme loneliness is closing in on us, the best prescription is a meeting and the company of other members.
I’ll not be too proud to ask for help today or to explain to others that I need them and appreciate them. I should also freely admit that help from others led me to sobriety–and helps maintain it today.
Keep It Simple
April 4
Pray without resentment in your heart.
–The Little Red Book
Resentment is anger that we don’t want to turn over to our Higher Power.
Sometimes we want to keep our anger. Maybe we want to “get even.” it’s hard to be spiritual and full of anger at the same time. When we hold on to anger, it turns into self-will. We get angry from time to time. This is normal. But we now have a program to help us let go of anger. We also know that stored-up anger can drive us back to alcohol and other drugs. Instead of trying to “get even,” let’s work at keeping anger out of our hearts.
Prayer for the Day:I pray without anger in my heart. Higher Power, I give You my anger. Have me work for justice, instead of acting like a judge.
Action for the Day:I’ll list any resentments I now have. I’ll talk about them at my next meeting. This is the best way to turn resentments over to my Higher Power.
“In forgiving ourselves, we make the journey from guilt for what we have done (or not done) to celebration of what we have become.”
–Joan Borysenko
“He who cannot rest, cannot work; He who cannot let go, cannot hold on; He who cannot find footing, cannot go forward.”
–Harry Emerson Fosdick
“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”
–Benjamin Franklin
If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could be better changed in ourselves.
–Carl Jung
Voices we prefer to ignore may speak words we need to hear.
–Don Deal
Father Leo’s Daily
Meditation
April 4
BEAUTY
“Beauty is not caused. It is.”
–Emily Dickinson
So many people think that beauty is what you do to yourself; what you wear, makeup, clothes, hairstyles or expensive jewelry. Again it is so easy to get caught up in “things.” Reality is not about what we wear but who we are.
The beauty that God has created comes from within. The twinkle in the eyes that says “hello.” The hug that says “I love you.” The gentle embrace and smile that says “I forgive you.” The tear that cries “I understand.”
When God said to the world, “It is good,” Beauty was born. Drugs and crazy relationships only get in the way of us being what we were intended to be: beautiful for God.
Today I seek to put God’s beauty in my actions, words and attitudes.
Daily Inspiration
April 4
Today is an opportunity to love, to work and to play. Lord, may I recognize the opportunities that come today and participate in them as much as I can.
In life it is those that persevere that will succeed. Lord, every day is a fresh beginning. With You, I will come closer to my goals each day if only I don’t give up and quit.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day – April 4
“You can pray for whatever you want, but it is always best to pray for others, not for yourself.”
–John Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA
When you are selfish and you pray, you are requesting things to flow only to you. When you are selfless, you are praying for things to flow to others. The old ones say this is the highest form of prayer. Praying this way is according to the Natural Laws.
Great Spirit, today, let my thoughts be about others.
Today’s Gift
April 4
One day at a time – this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone.
—Ida Scott Taylor
It’s not always easy to understand that the day stretching before us is all that counts. Daydreaming about the party last week, or getting upset all over again about a fight we had yesterday with a friend doesn’t help us right now. When our minds are on the past, we miss out on the conversation or the activity that is going on around us.
Every moment of the day is special and guaranteed to help us grow and understand life. All of us have been taught to pay attention in school, or to pay attention when others talk to us. But we should also pay attention to the birds, the sky, even the grass. And we can learn a lot by paying attention to the conversations going on around us, and to the small voice inside us that helps us know right from wrong.
What’s going on today is enough to pay attention to.
Am I ready to pay attention to what is around me today?
Touchstones
Meditations For Men
April 4
What is obvious to me is that we did not create ourselves … life is something inside of you. You did not create it. Once you understand that, you are in a spiritual realm.
—Virginia Satir
We do not belong to ourselves, but to the universe. No man planned to come into existence; he just happened to find himself here. We are the expressions of a life force whose beginnings are in the forgotten past. What does this mean on a practical level for how we will live today? For one thing, maybe we don’t need to take ourselves so seriously. And we certainly are not to judge our existence. We have a right to be here, just as everyone does.
We can live this day fully and not hold ourselves back. We may work hard, play, and enjoy it. We need not rein in or attempt to control this force, which so far exceeds our individual powers. Rather, today we can learn to flow with the current.
Today, may I remember my Higher Power is within every cell of my being, whether I notice it or not.
Daily TAO
April 4
PRACTICE
Spiritual success is gained by daily cultivation.
If you practiced for the Day, then you have won.
If you were lazy for the Day, then you have lost.
Self-cultivation is the heart of spiritual attainment. Gaining insight and ability is not a matter of grand statements, dramatic initiations, or sporadic moments of enlightenment. Those things are only highlights in a life of consistent activity.
Whatever system of spirituality you practice, do it every day. If it is prayer, then pray every day. If it is meditation, then meditate every day. If it is exercise, then exercise every day. Only then will you be able to say that you are truly practicing spirituality.
This methodical approach is reassuring in several ways. First, it provides you with a process and a means to maintain progress even if that particular day is not inspiring or significant. Just to practice is already good. Secondly, it gives you a certain faith. If you practice every day, it is inevitable that you will gain from it. Thirdly, constant practice gives you a certain satisfaction. How can you say to yourself that you have truly entered a spiritual path unless you can look back on years of daily practice and take comfort in the momentum that it has given you?
Daily Zen
April 4
Pear blossoms pale white,
Willows deep green
When willow fluff scatters,
Falling blossoms will fill the town.
Snowy boughs by the eastern palisade
Set me pondering
In a lifetime how many springs do we see?
– Su Tung-p’o (1077)